When people find out I am a social worker, they say “oh so you work with children”. Then when I tell them that I work with older people, they automatically assume that I work in a care home, or with people with dementia. It is as if social work with older people doesn’t exist, or isn’t needed as much as working with children.
But working with older people is as diverse as working with any other age range. It’s important to remember that “older adults” aren’t just one group of people with the same needs. I work in the community, with older people not previously known to adult social care. Some may just need information and advice about universal local services. Others may need equipment or home adaptions to meet their needs, and some need access to services. As a social worker, I’m responsible for safeguarding adults from harm, reviewing current care in place, carrying out a mental capacity assessment, and being the first point of contact. We are focused on wellbeing and seek to maintain and enhance their quality of life.
It was in my final year as a social work student in a learning disability team that I first started to see how older people seem to be written off by society. In the learning disability team, the adults would be encouraged and supported to maintain their independence and were taught skills such as how to use public transport or manage their money. I didn’t see the same enthusiasm with older people. I had a client with a learning disability who was supported with accessing the community in a personalised way. But I have come across older people only being offered access to the local day centre, not given the choice of going somewhere on their own and doing something they had chosen to do.
But, despite the importance of this work, it seems like fewer students are opting to work with older people. In one lecture at university, we were asked to say what sort of social work we wanted to do when we finished the course. Most of the class, around three-quarters, wanted to work with children and families. In my final year nearly every example and discussion was focused on children’s social work, at the expense of other groups. With the country’s population ageing, this seems illogical. Social work education and practice needs to be focused on and interested in older people.
One home visit made me realise just how important my job is, and how much I enjoy this type of work, no matter the challenges along the way. I recently carried out an assessment of an older person following a referral from their son. The individual lives alone, but has visits from their sons who provide some support. One of the sons was present during the assessment. Before the visit, the son didn’t even consider himself to be a carer. Through being there, I was able to offer the son a carer’s assessment and an emergency plan, providing him with some support.
My job allows me to go behind closed doors and support people to improve their quality of life – even if that just means being with them so they’re not alone in what they face. I feel honoured that people let me into their lives and trust me, a stranger, with making things better for them.